1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cleaning device mounted in an image-forming apparatus such as an electrostatic photographic copying machine or a facsimile machine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A known cleaning device in an image-forming apparatus includes an elastic blade for engaging a surface of a photoreceptor at a pointed edge thereof to separate residual toner from said surface of the photoreceptor, said blade being rotatably mounted to a housing so as to be separable from said surface of the photoreceptor during a non-cleaning state. And, a soft elastic member occupying a gap between an end of said elastic blade and a side plate of the housing is mounted to said side plate of the housing so as to prevent the toner from scattering from both ends of the elastic blade.
Although the soft elastic member has been formed of materials having various kinds of properties, such as remarkably soft materials or slightly hard materials, in the case where the remarkably soft materials are used, the prevention of the toner from scattering is apt to be reduced, while in the case where the slightly hard materials are used, the prevention of the toner from scattering is superior but the slightly hard elastic member interferes with both ends of the blade to a great extent when said elastic blade is rotated. Thus, both ends of said elastic blade are apt to be deformed by the slightly hard elastic members during the rotation of said elastic blade, whereby the toner may scatter through the deformed portion.